Let’s Celebrate Spring!

Hello Market Friends:
On Thursday March 21st, the day will be 12 hours, 11 minutes and 31 seconds long. We can officially say we have made it through to another spring, and the cycle is beginning again. That means it’s time for a party!

We are marking the Vernal Equinox with a celebration. The vendors will be offering free samples of their wonderful wares while supplies last. We hope you will bring a friend and enjoy some goodies on us!

Our newest farmer-vendors, Olivia Huber of Huber’s Wildwood Farm, and Mike Madden of Thor Farms will both be in attendance.

Olivia writes, “I’m going to be bringing different flavors of sausage for people to try. The snow is starting to melt which means soon the pigs will get to be moved back out to the fields full time and out of the barn. Hoping spring comes quick.”

Mike says, “Thor Farms will be offering a Slow-cooker of Maple Chipotle Roast Beef. We are happy to let everyone know that Spring has finally sprung and calving season has begun. At the moment we have three new heifer additions to the herd and we are expecting many more calves in the near future. The dogs and cows are enjoying the sunshine.  The chickens are running about scouring the thawing ground. Everyone is waiting for the grass to grow and the flowers to bloom.”

In other new vendor news, some of you met Angie Sanchez and tried the absolutely delicious dried mangoes from her family’s farm in Peru last week. Our main focus is on supporting local organic producers, but we have always included a few favourite ‘global foods’ when we have direct connections to the producers. Angie explained that the reason these mangoes are so good is that they are picked each day, when fully ripe, and dried immediately, with no additives whatsoever. She’ll be offering samples again this week, and your feedback is very welcome. Here’s a photo of the farm to dream on:

You’ll find Blythe of Spade & Spoon outside, cooking up silver dollar pancakes (that’s loonie pancakes if you’re too young to know how big a silver dollar is) with maple syrup, of course!

Jason Kun of Island Oysters will be with us as well, shucking the finest Canadian oysters. If you haven’t eaten oysters before, Jason is the guy to convert you!

The Dufferin Park Bakers list from Heidrun:
Sourdoughs: Rye, Caraway-Multigrain and Olive-Onion,
Artisan Loaves: Multigrain, Spelt-Walnut and Cranberry
Italians: Rosemary, Multigrain, Raisin, and Cranberry-Poppyseed
Rice Flour Bread

Seth from Forbes Wild Foods writes: “Just found out we are going to have some fresh foraged seaweed. We will have multiple varieties of ocean goodnesses to help spring into the season.”

Lots more to try, too!
See you at the First Market of Spring!
Anne Freeman

Postscript: After sharing all this fun news, there’s something terribly sad I must add. We just learned that Debbie Wiecha recently passed away. Debbie has been a cherished member of our market community for many years, famous not only for her magnificent fruit and beautiful lavender, but also for her generosity and love of a good laugh. It’s tremendously difficult to grow tender fruit organically in our climate, such a gamble that Debbie chose to work as an intensive care nurse to reduce the stress of relying on the farm. If you experienced the first fragrance of her peaches rolling across the park, you will remember it as one of the best moments in summer. Our hearts go out to her family at this difficult time. They hope to carry on the business, but Debbie will be sorely missed.